The Toddler in the Tire
by proudwildcat
Summary: Booth and the squints have to work together to solve yet another case, this one involving a 1 year old. Can they bring the baby's killer to justice? My first Bones story! Reviews are welcome and encouraged! Pretty please, y'all? *Insert puppy eyes here*
1. Chapter 1

**The Toddler in the Tire 1**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters. Shoot.**

Dr. Temperance Brennan woke with a start. Someone was hammering on her door. She picked up her alarm clock and squinted at it; the sunlight streaming in her window hurt her eyes. 6:51 a.m. Nine minutes until her alarm was set to go off. Who was waking her up this early? She got out of bed and reached for the hair tie that was lying on her bedside table. She tied her hair back into a ponytail and walked to her front door, yawning widely as she did so. She looked out the peephole. It was Booth. Booth was pounding on her door at 6:51 no, make that 6:52 a.m. She groaned and opened the door.

Booth walked in, grinning and upbeat as usual. "Morning, Bones. Could I interest you in some coffee?"

"Yes please!" Brennan replied, taking a cup from his hand. She took a sip of the hot liquid and felt herself waking up. "And to what do I owe this _very early_ visit?"

Booth took the hint and grinned. "Yeah, sorry about that one Bones. But you know, a dead body waits for no team."

"Do we have any details on said body?" Brennan asked, nursing her coffee and trying her best to speak coherently. Mornings were not her strong suit.

"Just that it was found in a junk yard," Booth said, plopping down on the sofa. "So how fast can you be ready?"

"Give me half an hour," she answered, rising from the other end of the sofa and setting her cup down. "And please, could you make some more coffee?"

Thirty- five minutes later, Brennan and Booth were on their way to Peach's Bait, Tackle, and Salvage yard. When they arrived Booth flashed his badge at the gate and they walked down the trail that led to dozens of rusty and taken-apart cars, where they could already see at least ten FBI agents in an already roped off crime scene. They ducked under the yellow tape and walked to the nearest supervisor. "Okay, what go you got?" asked Booth.

"You aren't going to like this one," the agent said with a grim look on his face. "Over there, in the tire."

Brennan and Booth walked over to an oversized truck tire and peered into the rim. When he saw the body Booth had to walk away, cursing under his breath. He thought he would be sick. Brennan, who normally had a strong stomach for bodies and the like, had to cover her mouth and turn away for a moment to regain composure. There in the tire lay the tiny form of a baby boy. Brennan turned back and started the ugly task of trying to identify the remains.

"Baby boy, approximately 12 months old, weighing 19 pounds and maybe 28 inches in length," she estimated quietly. "Clothes are stained with something that looks like spit up and dirt. Been out here maybe two weeks, but I need Hodgins to confirm." Booth just grunted. He was sitting on another truck tire a few feet away, his head in his hands. She knew he was thinking about Parker, and she didn't blame him. She looked at the supervising agent. "How was he found?"

"A couple boys were walking around here looking for mud tires to put on their trucks. One guy saw these and walked over. When he bent over to pick that one up he saw the baby and started hollering at his friend to call the cops."

All of a sudden she looked up and Booth was beside her. "We need this stuff sent to the lab," he said quietly. He looked at the supervisor and commanded "Bag this stuff up and send it to the Jeffersonian. And please be careful with that body."

"Will do, Agent Booth."

The partners walked back to the car and took their seats in silence. Booth started the car and pulled out of the parking lot. Still it was silent. They were halfway to the Jeffersonian before Brennan spoke.

"Are you okay Booth?"

"I guess. I was just thinking about Parker. What he looked like when he was that little. I thought he was the most amazing thing I'd ever seen. I can't imagine what that baby's parents are going through."

"I can't imagine why anyone would do that to a baby so young. I mean, what could that tiny child possibly have done to deserve that? And as little maternal instinct as I have I know not to leave a baby in a junk yard."

Booth looked at her. "What do you mean no instinct? You're great with Parker and your nieces. It's your head that wants nothing to do with children."

"It's also my head that helps us solve these cases."

"Yeah, you and the Squint Squad. Sometimes I don't see how you do it. Most of the time Cam and Angela are the only ones that make sense."

"I apologize. Sometimes I do forget to hint you in on…what is it you call it? Squint speak."

"Its clue you in Bones, and its ok. Its funny how you get all excited and you start speaking gibberish."

"Well I'm glad you find it amusing," Brennan replied as Booth pulled into the parking lot at the Jeffersonian. He cut the SUV off and they climbed out of it, falling into a normal routine. They walked to the door and Booth swiped his card, opening the door for Brennan, who gave him an ill look. He gave her the infamous charm grin, and they walked down a hall, into the lab, and up to the platform. Brennan scanned her card, and they walked to the table, where the tiny body was laid out and all the squints were very delicately examining it. It was always harder on everyone when a child was involved.

"What do we have so far?" Booth asked, trying not to look at the baby.

"Dr. Brennan was pretty much right about everything," Cam started in.

"The larvae found around him suggest that he was there somewhere around ten to twelve days," Hodgins said. "I found traces of rubber on his clothes. But that's a given."

"The spinal column shows damage between the C2 and C3 vertebrae," Cam finished.

"Any brain damage?" Brennan asked, certain she knew where this was going.

"There was some subdural bruising on the frontal bone," Cam answered.

"Oh no," Brennan said, putting her face in her hand. Booth looked clueless and the squints looked stricken.

"What is it? Our cause of death?" Booth asked.

"Subdural bruising occurs when something shakes the brain so fast that it smacks the front of the skull," Cam explained quietly.

"And that means?"

"Booth, in a child this small, its very probable that there is only one thing to cause that kind of damage to a baby's brain." Brennan laid her hand on his arm and he gave her a 'keep talking' look. "It normally means the baby has been a victim of SBS, or Shaken Baby Syndrome." The look on her partner's face would have killed anyone guilty for such a crime.

"And it means this is officially a murder investigation," Cam announced as Angela walked up to the platform.

"I have a rendering," she said reluctantly. She held up a sketch of an adorable baby boy with bright blue eyes, wispy blonde curls, and a big grin with six teeth. "I also have a match. His name is Colby Grey. He went missing from his aunt's front yard eleven days ago."

"We have to inform the family," Brennan sighed. This was the first time they ever had to deal with a victim this young. How did you tell a family their baby boy was gone?

**AN: Does that constitute as a cliff hanger? I've never written one before. If it don't then oh well. Maybe its not a cliff, just a high window. Either way, if you like it (yay!) or if you don't (aww.****) please review. It would make my stuck at home with sick baby and no new bones blues day.**


	2. Chapter 2

**The Toddler in the Tire 2**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Bones…yet. My birthday is in four days, maybe then!**

Brennan was sitting in front of yet another distraught family. Things never changed. They always asked the same questions, always gave the same answers. Normally the only thing that changed was the faces. This tome was different. They couldn't ask if the person had had financial trouble recently. They couldn't ask if the victim had any enemies. They couldn't even ask if the person had been sexually involved with anyone. All they could do was say the same thing that they always said.

"We're very sorry for your loss ma'am," Booth said, taking a seat on the Grey family's couch.

"Are you sure it's my little Colby?" Virginia Grey asked tearfully. Brennan handed the baby's mother the rendering that Angela drew. When she saw the picture Virginia started wailing uncontrollably.

"What happened to him?" the baby's father Michael asked.

Brennan cleared her throat. "We think he died of a subdural hematoma caused by shaken baby syndrome."

"Did he suffer at all?"

Booth gave Brennan a "don't you say anything bad to this family" look that was simply not needed. "Colby suffered very little, if he suffered at all. He most likely passed out due to dizziness and lack of oxygen to his brain. It would have been the equivalent to dying in his sleep."

"Well at least we know he wasn't in pain when he passed, honey," Michael said, holding his wife's hand and stroking it with his thumb.

Booth spoke up. "Do you mind if we ask you a few questions?"

"Of course not," Virginia sniffled, "Ask anything."

"What do the two of you do for a living?"

"I'm a history teacher and Michael is a postal worker."

"Do either of you have any enemies?"

Michael and Virginia looked at each other. "No," Michael answered. "We are both considerably easy to get along with.

"How did Colby go missing?" Brennan asked.

"He was sick, so we couldn't take him to daycare," Virginia replied, "It just so happened that my sister Allison had the day off and she agreed to keep him until we got off of work. Colby liked climbing in and out of her Labrador's doggie door. The one time Mary forgot to lock it after Bowser came in Colby apparently climbed through it. He started walking at ten months old and it was easy for him to toddle around in her yard. Mary said he was out of her sight for maybe ten minutes. When she came back to the living room to pick him up and try to get him to eat lunch he was gone. We can only assume that he got out the door and was taken from her front yard."

"Where does your sister live?" Booth inquired. Virginia gave him the address and he wrote it down. He stood up and Brennan stood up after him.

"Thank you for your time," she said.

"If there is anything you need or any information you may remember just give us a call," Booth said as he was headed for the door.

The Grays thanked them and they walked out to the Toyota. "So I assume we're making an appearance at Allison Grey's house?" Brennan asked, giving Booth a look as he held her car door open for her.

"Of course we are Bones. And its no good giving me that look every time I open your door for you, I won't stop doing it. Chivalry is not dead."

"Actually, historically speaking, chivalry died somewhere between the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Besides, you don't do it out of chivalry; you do it because of some long outdated and slightly demeaning rule of society that clearly states that women should not have the right to think for themselves."

Booth looked at her. "When have I ever said you couldn't think for yourself? I happen to like when you think for yourself. The stuff you come up with always keeps me on my toes. And I don't do it because I put stock in a long outdated rule of society. I do it because my mama taught me that way and she would flip on me if she found out I was slacking off. And another thing, Bones; when have you ever felt demeaned by me? Because if you have I apologize."

Brennan sighed. "I've never felt demeaned by you, and I know you let me think for myself."

"Good."

They were quiet for a few minutes, and then Brennan asked "Did you ever wish that Parker was a girl?"

"There you go thinking for yourself again, Bones. You always have to be thinking about something. What kind of question is that?"

"A very valid one, I think. Anthropologically speaking, it would be quite normal if you were to dote on Parker more if he was a girl. What's the saying? Oh yes. Daddy's girl, mama's boy."

"I like Parker the way he is Bones. If one day I were to have a little girl to spoil it wouldn't be so bad. As of right now though, I'm happy with Parker. He's starting to get really good at football."

"He's really good at science too."

"I know that, there's nothing wrong with that. Anyway, what brought that question up?"

"Oh, I don't know. I always assumed Russ and I would have gotten along better if I was a boy."

"No way, Bones. Jared and I fought like crazy when we were little. We still don't get along now. It's better with you being a girl. Besides, I like you for exactly who you are. It makes it easier to tolerate all that scientific mumbo jumbo coming from you. It's always harder to take coming from Hodgins. And since you're cute, you make me look good." Booth looked over at Bones. She looked like she was going to karate chop his head in. He flashed her charm smile.

Brennan gave Booth an appraising look and sighed. "That was an extraordinarily chauvinistic answer. But for once I don't feel like arguing."

"Okay Bones, whatever you say."

Brennan turned her head and stared out the window. _Since when does he think I'm cute? Hmm. Maybe I had better not ask that one. _She settled into her seat and hid a small smile, secure in the fact that her partner liked her just the way she was.

**AN: So what did you think? I'm not really good at scientific terms yet. I'm having to do some intensive research. Anyway, my birthday is in three days! Yay! Maybe as an early present you could review? It would be much appreciated!**


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